Bread snacks (croutons)

Bread snacks (also known as “croutons”) are lightly toasted and dried mini-breads, traditionally used as a crispy garnishing in soups and salads. They are gaining in popularity worldwide as tasty, healthy and sophisticated alternatives to traditional snacks such as potato or corn chips.

An alternative snack

Clextral’s twin-screw extrusion continuous lines mix, cook, shape, cut and dry bread snacks, and are more flexible and cost-effective than batch bake-and-toast processing. The flexibility of the twin-screw extrusion system also means that bread snacks can be flavored in-process with various spices, garlic, olive oil, etc. They can be produced in different textures and sizes, from wafer-thins crisps for snacks to thick crunchy mini breads that are ideal for soups. Extruded bread snacks come in different shapes: cubes, slices, etc. Different raw materials can be integrated into the bread manufacturing process, including soft wheat, rye, bran or any whole grain cereals, providing high fiber content essential to a healthy diet. They also contain less fat than traditional snacks such as potato chips. Bread snacks production can even be gluten-free.

Totally versatile systems

Clextral’s twin-screw cooker extruders, at the core of bread snack production, offer the following advantages: